Who's+Art+is+it+Anyway?

[|Juliana Liebke] || ||
 * || =Who's Art is it Anyway?=

Overview
There have been many artistic movements throughout the ages, however, nothing quite compares with the European Renaissance. The art from the Renaissance did not just appear but rather, it evolved. In this game, players will see twenty works of art flash before them. They will have a limited period of time to determine if a work of art comes from the [|Classical], [|Medieval], or [|Renaissance] time periods in Europe. Scores will be given for two items: speed and accuracy.

Instructional Objective
Learners will view and differentiate various forms of art from the [|Classical], [|Medieval], and [|Renaissance] eras in Europe.


 * [|History-Social Science (HSS) standards]**
 * 7.1.1 Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news).
 * 7.2.6 Understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature.
 * 7.8.5 Detail advances made in literature, the arts, science, mathematics, cartography, engineering, and the understanding of human anatomy and astronomy (e.g., by Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo di Buonarroti Simoni, Johann Gutenberg, William Shakespeare).


 * [|Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) standards]**
 * 7.1.2 Identify and describe scale (proportion) as applied to two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.
 * 7.1.3 Identify and describe the ways in which artists convey the illusion of space (e.g., placement, overlapping, relative size, atmospheric perspective, and linear perspective)
 * 7.3.2 Compare and contrast works of art from various periods, styles, and cultures and explain how those works reflect the society in which they were made.

Learners
The game is designed specifically for 7th grade Social Science and Visual and Performing Arts students. The game could be expanded, however, to address any grade level or content area that involves the study of the European Renaissance.

Context of Use
The game would be introduced at school, but as an online resource, students could access it from anywhere with internet service. At our school, we have laptop carts that hold 15 computers. For a class of 28 students, students work in groups of four on a computer. The game would be played once in each class (for example, I have four periods) as the independent practice for the lesson.

Prior to the game, students will have read from their //History Alive!// text chapter 28, section 2 "The Renaissance Begins." This section describes qualities of [|Classical], [|Medieval], and [|Renaissance] art. Next, the teacher will display the [|Features of Art] power point and students will take notes on the features of Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance art on the Features of Art [|chart.] Students will be able to refer to this chart initially, while they play the game.

During the game, students will guess the time period, [|Classical], [|Medieval], or [|Renaissance], for a piece of art. If students guess correctly, then the artist, title, and date of the piece will appear. Students will be given a form where they will need to write the artist, title, and date of each piece as well as three reasons why they thought it was a particular time period. The first group to complete all their forms wins the game.

After the game, students will respond to a forum in [|Moodle] that says: Choose a Renaissance piece. Give the artist, title, and date of this piece. Discuss three features of Renaissance art that are apparent in the painting. Explain the influence of both Classical and [|Medieval] art on this piece.

Initially, this game would be used in a formal setting by groups of three or four. The game would be played in 30 minutes as students would view and analyze nine pieces. I have a vision of a later, more challenging game, where students would compare Renaissance pieces and distinguish whether the piece was from Italy or northern Europe. Finally, the real challenge would be to compare Renaissance art with a later art period, such as the Romantic period. This extension would be an optional challenge for students to access on their own.

Scope
The game will take one class period. The play time will be under 30 minutes, however, teachers will need to consider that students need to be grouped, logged onto their computers, and all computers operating well. Then, students will need to be given directions. Finally, students can play the game for about 30 minutes, and then win their prize. I teach a 70 minute class period and I think I would need two class periods for this lesson. One day would be the day I did the preview and introduction to the Renaissance. The next day students will play the game and the first group to complete their forms wins the prize.

Object of the Game
The object of the game is for a group of four to be the first to complete the that displays the artist, title, and date of each piece as well as three reasons why the group thought the piece was from a specific time period.

Competing Products[[image:renaissance-art.jpg width="188" height="182" align="right"]]
I found a game called [|The Renaissance Art] game which is a paper-back card game focused on Renaissance art. In this game, players can play two card games.
 * 1) "Go Fish for Art" where players collect masterpieces by great Renaissance artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli and Fra Angelico.
 * 2) "Concentration" where players win by matching different works of art by the same artist.

The Renaissance Art game includes 30 instruction cards and a booklet with short biographies of featured artists. This game looks great for learning about Renaissance art, but I think it doesn't capture the idea of comparing art from various periods and describing the classical influence on the Renaissance the way my game does.

Another similar game to "Who's Art is it Anyway?" is called Art Shark. In Art Shark, players use tricks to make a fortune collecting art, switch fakes with original art, outbid other players at auction, and discover 64 masterpieces as they play. The game set includes 64 art cards, 54 chance cards, and 2 dice. It is clearly a board game, though, and not intended to be an online game.

Design Details
The game will be presented in a photorealistic setting as pictured above. Included are the title of the game, an image of Rafael's //School of Athens//, a description of the object of the game, a link to the Features of Art power point that gives learners the background information they need to play the game, and a link to start. Ideally, the font will be more of a Renaissance/Gothic style and [|Con Amores] will play as the web page opens. A whistle will indicate a correct answer and a buzzer for an incorrect answer.
 * //Universal Elements//**

//**Specific Elements**// Who's Art is it Anyway? is somewhat of a quiz game.


 * The categories will include: classical, medieval, and Renaissance
 * Each "question" will be a display of an art piece and learners will need to click on the era they think the piece comes from.
 * See the sample page above.
 * The introductory page is a power point can be accessed by clicking on this [|link]:
 * There is no score sheet, but instead groups of four students will need to fill out a chart that looks like this:[[image:Picture_3.png width="225" height="327" align="center"]]

//**Technical Elements**//


 * The game will be played through my [|Moodle] site which will have a link to a "lesson" that I will create called "Who's Art is it Anyway?" It will also contain links to my google site as pictured above.
 * Students will play the game on school laptops. Groups of 4 will be at one computer and will need to log onto my moodle site to play.
 * Graphics can be seen above. Sound will be the Renaissance tune playing in the background. The limits of Moodle require that I play the music in the class while students play the game.

Motivational Issues
Who's Art is it Anyway? engages the learners' critical thinking skills. Learners will take their background knowledge from a previous lesson, and working in cooperative groups, they will compete with other groups to see who can differenciate among [|Classical], [|Medieval], and [|Renaissance] art the quickest and most accurately. Another motivation for this game is the challenge aspect. According to Malone and Lepper (1987), challenge has to exist optimally. I believe Who's Art is it Anyway provides and optimal amount of challenge. It's not too easy because identification of art pieces will require group cooperation and discussion as well reflecting back on the lesson from a previous day, however, it's not impossibly difficult as the necessary tools to succeed in this game were provided in class. The competive "race" aspect of the game, that groups have to be first to complete their chart, should keep the learners in "flow."

Design Process
I originally got the idea for this game from the [|Teachers' Curriculum Institute] (1997) materials I have as a seventh grade social studies teacher. This was an optional activity developed to supplement student learning of the Renaissance. Originally, it came with a reading of [|Classical], Medieval, and [|Renaissance] art and a chart for students to complete as they watched a slide show from a slide projector. The activity was always intended as a group activity. The first year I taught this activity, I noticed a flaw in that the students found the reading of the three art forms too text-rich and were not grasping the concepts for each artistic period. The second year I taught this, I created a chart for students to fill out the main points of each era of art. This went better, but still, something was missing.

The third year I taught this, I made colored placards of each art form. Instead of having to stop and discuss each piece, where I frequently lost the students, I had the placards rotating round the room and groups had to analyze each piece of art within 5 minutes. Then, we would watch the slide show and I would discuss each piece. The analysis went better, but still, I was losing students as we discussed each piece.

Last year, I made a power point instead of using old-fashioned slides. The power point enabled me to engage students during the debrief better because I could insert the key text ideas while displaying the image, but it still seemed as though I did more talking than necessary. When the opportunity to design an online game came up during Ed Tec 670, I decided to choose this topic because, as a reflective teacher, I knew this was a great topic but that it could be much better.

At first I wasn't sure how this game would be played. I thought it had to be an independent game played anywhere since it would be online. As I worked on this write-up, it came together for me. I could still have students work in groups of four but on a computer. I could still have students see images and take their guesses. But, instead of my debrief at the end of the activity which I felt was too teacher-centered, students will debrief the art themselves as they play the game. In fact, the whole competition is this: Students must see an image. As a group of four, students decide which time period the image is from. If they choose [|Classical], [|Medieval], or [|Renaissance] correctly, then the screen will display a description of the art piece which will include the artist's name, art piece's title and date, and three features that distinguish this piece for its time period. The first group to complete their chart wins the game. This will give students incentive to read the information properly. After students play the game, I won't need to conduct a teacher-centered debrief, but rather, I can check student reflections on the [|Moodle] site to make sure students learned the concepts. I hope I can actually get this game up and running for when I teach the Renaissance in spring.

The game is similar to the [|Renaissance Art] game I saw above in that each piece of art will contain a description designed to teach the students about the art they see. It will differ in that students will not just be learning about Renaissance art pieces, but will also learn how to differenciate between [|Classical], [|Medieval], and [|Renaissance] art. I think my game actually requires more critical thinking, whereas the [|Renaissance Art] game requires more rote memorization.

I am pleased that a simpler prototype seems more effective than my initial thoughts of having a fully independent web-based game. I like that this will be a classroom activity and that playing it only once is okay. I've learned that with games, as in much of life, sometimes less is more.